SummerSlam (2016)
SummerSlam (2016) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and WWE Network event produced by WWE. It took place Sunday on August 21, 2016 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. It was the twenty-ninth event under the SummerSlam chronology, the second consecutive SummerSlam at this particular venue, and the first event under the reintroduction of the WWE brand extension. Twelve matches were contested at the event, including three matches contested on the pre-show. In the main event, Brock Lesnar defeated Randy Orton by technical knockout while in other marquee matches, Finn Bálor defeated Seth Rollins to become the inaugural WWE Universal Champion, Dean Ambrose defeated Dolph Ziggler to retain the WWE World Championship, and AJ Styles defeated John Cena. Storylines The card included twelve matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches, with results predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands. Storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live. On June 5, WWE granted Brock Lesnar "a one-off opportunity" to return to mixed martial arts competition at UFC 200 on July 9, while also confirming that Lesnar would compete at SummerSlam. On the July 7 episode of SmackDown, Lesnar's SummerSlam opponent was announced as Randy Orton, who was returning from injury. WWE billed the match as "15 years in the making". On July 15, WWE confirmed that the match would still be taking place, despite a USADA notification in regards to Lesnar's UFC fight, stemming from an out-of-competition sample collected on June 28, which tested positive for a banned substance. A second sample taken in-competition on July 9 was also tested positive for the same banned substance, believed to be hydroxy-clomifene, discovered in the previous sample. On July 26, WWE confirmed that Lesnar would not be facing any disciplinary action from the WWE as he is exempt from the WWE Wellness Policy due to his status as a part-time performer. Orton returned at Battleground as the guest on Chris Jericho's "Highlight Reel". Orton said that he only needed one RKO to take down Lesnar and also took a shot at Lesnar's failed drug tests. He also said he wanted to face Lesnar to prove that he belongs at the top, before performing an RKO on Jericho. On the August 1 episode of Raw, Lesnar's manager Paul Heyman proclaimed that Orton would never be able to execute his finisher on Lesnar when Orton suddenly appeared and attacked Lesnar with an RKO. Lesnar subsequently attacked Orton with an F-5 during his match against Fandango on SmackDown the next night. The last Raw before SummerSlam saw Lesnar and Heyman cutting another promo on Orton until Heath Slater interrupted, aiming to earn a WWE contract (as he was undrafted in the WWE draft) by defeating Lesnar. Lesnar attacked Slater with an F-5 to send a message to Orton. Slater faced Orton the next night on SmackDown to earn a contract. Orton intentionally got himself disqualified, mocking Lesnar before attacking Slater with an RKO. After SmackDown draftee Dean Ambrose retained the WWE World Championship at Battleground against Raw draftees Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins in a Triple threat match, Raw was left without a world title. Subsequently, Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley created a new championship, the WWE Universal Championship, the following night on Raw to serve as the brand's top championship. It was then announced that the inaugural champion would be crowned at SummerSlam in a singles match; Rollins, as Raw is #1 draft pick, was automatically set for that match, while his opponent was determined by two Fatal 4-Way matches that night, with the winners wrestling each other in a singles match. Finn Bálor won the first Fatal 4-Way by defeating Cesaro, Kevin Owens, and Rusev, while Reigns won the second by defeating Chris Jericho, Sami Zayn, and Sheamus. Bálor then defeated Reigns and was added to the title match at SummerSlam. Bálor and Rollins confronted each other the following week, both promising to win at SummerSlam. Rollins then attempted to attack Bálor, but Bálor countered, forcing Rollins to retreat. Two weeks later, Balor's alter ego, "The Demon King", confronted Rollins after Rollins called him out. On the July 26 episode of SmackDown, a Six-Pack Challenge involving John Cena, Bray Wyatt, AJ Styles, Dolph Ziggler, Baron Corbin, and Apollo Crews was held to determine the #1 contender for the WWE World Championship at SummerSlam; Crews won a battle royal earlier that night to earn the sixth spot. Ziggler won the Six-Pack Challenge by pinning Styles, earning a title match against Dean Ambrose at SummerSlam. The next week, after Ambrose doubted Ziggler's ability, Wyatt attacked Ziggler and challenged him for his title shot. Ziggler accepted and defeated Wyatt. The next week, after Ambrose and Ziggler teamed up to defeat Wyatt and Erick Rowan, Ambrose performed Dirty Deeds on Ziggler. Ziggler responded by attacking Ambrose with a superkick on their "Miz TV" segment the SmackDown before SummerSlam. At Battleground, Sasha Banks recruited Bayley from NXT as a mystery partner and the two defeated WWE Women's Champion Charlotte and Dana Brooke in a tag team matchwhen Sasha made Charlotte submit. This earned Sasha a title match against Charlotte the following night on Raw, in which she again made Charlotte submit to win the title. Charlotte invoked her rematch clause five days later to face Sasha for the title at SummerSlam. The following week, a confrontation between the two was interrupted by Chris Jericho and Enzo Amore, resulting in a mixed tag team match, which Charlotte and Jericho won. On the August 8 edition of Raw, Sasha Banks defeated Brooke, resulting in Dana being banned from ringside at SummerSlam. After the aforementioned mixed tag team match, Chris Jericho attacked Enzo Amore until Big Cass came out to help his partner. Later in the event, Owens told Jericho that he had his back during a backstage interview with Tom Phillips. The following week, Jericho defeated Amore by disqualification when Cass interfered. After the match, Cass challenged Owens and Jericho to a tag team match at SummerSlam, which Owens and Jericho accepted. After AJ Styles's victory over John Cena at Money in the Bank, The Club (Styles, Karl Anderson, and Luke Gallows) began attacking Cena until Enzo Amore and Big Cass came to Cena's aide, setting up a six-man tag team match for Battleground. At the event, Cena, Enzo, and Cass defeated The Club. As a result of the draft, Enzo, Cass, Anderson, and Gallows were drafted to Raw, while Cena and Styles were drafted to SmackDown, splitting up the two teams. On the August 2 episode of SmackDown, Styles challenged Cena to another match at SummerSlam, which Cena accepted. On the August 16 episode of SmackDown, after Cena defeated Alberto Del Rio, Styles attacked Cena with a Phenomenal Forearm, but Cena retaliated with an Attitude Adjustment, followed by a second Attitude Adjustment through the broadcast table. On the August 2 episode of SmackDown, Apollo Crews defeated Baron Corbin and Kalisto in a triple threat match to earn an Intercontinental Championship match against The Miz at SummerSlam. On the August 1 episode of Raw, after United States Champion Rusev defeated Mark Henry to retain the title, Roman Reigns came out to confront Rusev. The following week, Reigns interrupted Rusev and Lana's wedding celebration and issued a challenge to Rusev for the title. Rusev declined and the two brawled, causing Lana to fall into a wedding cake. Backstage, Mick Foley told an angered Lana and Rusev that Rusev would be defending his United States title against Reigns at SummerSlam. Later that night, Rusev successfully defended his title in an impromptu match against Cesaro, who felt that he should also have a shot at the title. After the match, Rusev was attacked by Reigns with a Spear. Reigns defeated Rusev in a non-title match the following week. On the July 25 episode of Raw, The New Day were celebrating in the ring on becoming the longest reigning WWE Tag Team Champions. Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woodsthen asked the fans in Pittsburgh for someone to join them and celebrate. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson then attacked all three members of New Day while the fan escaped. The following week on Raw, Big E and Kingston defeated Gallows and Anderson. Gallows and Anderson then attacked all three members of New Day, finishing with Gallows and Anderson pulling Big E groin-first into the ring post, causing a contusion in Big E's groin. On August 8, Woods and Kingston were scheduled to defend the WWE Tag Team Championship against Gallows and Anderson at SummerSlam. After losing to Cesaro on the August 1 episode of Raw, Sheamus attacked Cesaro. On the August 8 episode of Raw, Cesaro defeated Sheamus again, but lost a match for the United States Championship against Rusev after interference from Sheamus. On the August 15 episode of Raw, Cesaro distracted Sheamus, costing him a match against Sami Zayn. During an ensuing argument, Raw General Manager Mick Foley scheduled a Best-of-Seven Series between the two, with the first match taking place at SummerSlam. On August 19, the match was moved to the SummerSlam pre-show. Eva Marie was drafted to SmackDown, but for several episodes, circumstances, including pulling her hamstring and a wardrobe malfunction, prevented her from making her in-ring debut. On the August 16 episode, Eva Marie no-showed for her match against Naomi. Later that night, Becky Lynch and Carmella took on Natalya and Alexa Bliss; during the match, Marie appeared on the entrance ramp. Naomi then appeared and started to chase Marie, passing the ring at one point. During the confusion, Becky applied her Dis-Arm-Her ''on Natalya, who submitted. Later on, a six-woman tag team match was scheduled for SummerSlam. On August 18, Marie was suspended for 30 days due to a violation of WWE's wellness policy, taking her out of the match. In light of this, WWE's advertising was intentionally vague about whether the match would be turned into a three-on-two handicap or if Natalya and Alexa would have a third partner. On the August 16 episode of ''SmackDown, American Alpha, The Hype Bros, and The Usos defeated Breezango, The Ascension, and The Vaudevillains. On August 19, a rematch was scheduled for the SummerSlam pre-show. On the same show, Jon Stewart, who had been SummerSlam's guest host the previous year, was announced to be returning to the event as a special guest. On August 19, Sami Zayn and Neville were scheduled to take on The Dudley Boyz on the SummerSlam pre-show. Aftermath Results * Rusev vs. Roman Reigns for the United States Championship never officially started as Rusev was unable to compete after being injured by Reigns. Other on-screen personnel See also * List of WWE pay-per-view events * SummerSlam Category:SummerSlam Category:2016 Pay-Per-View Events Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events